Pot for Parents

I'm not arguing with the results he's experienced ... I'm all for better parents in general.

I would say it is different in this case because you only go to those CannaMed doctors for 1 reason- to get your medical marijuana card. Paying for the visit is basically just part of the cost of getting the card. There are no upsells, the doctor isn't profitting off you buying the "medicine", etc. He gets paid for your visit and that's it.

So yeah, completely different than a chiropractor or psychiatrist who profits from your ongoing treatment.

That's a tough question and I don't have a great answer. I guess I'd prefer the advice of someone who was a skeptic themselves and who was predisposed to doing nothing over guessing.

I didn't debate whether it was working for him ... Just that I would have been a bit more skeptical.

"That may be true, but I wonder what the kids will say when they're grown."

I think they'll be much more pissed off about all their childhood pictures having been taken in instagram.

Actually, that result would be newsworthy. But this is not that. This is an anecdote from a pot user saying that he likes using pot. That's really all it is. It's not bad, but it's not something that's going to change management at the level of the medical system, and it's certainly not news that, anecdotally, people on marijuana often behave friendly.

If this were a randomized controlled trial (or even a cohort study) showing that pot use actually does improve some measurable parenting outcome, it would actually be hacker news-worthy, in my opinion.

First, I'm not saying that getting high is bad, or good. I'm just observing that this particular parent likes to get high, and I don't find that newsworthy.

Whether I consider taking a prescribed medication "getting high" depends on the dose and the use-case.

Vicodin contains an opioid, so if you are not in pain but take it, you will get high. Actually, its codeine derivative is variably metabolized so you may not get high (or pain relief, for that matter).

Xanax (alprazolam) is a benzo, whose effects are similar to alcohol. I don't think most people would consider this a "high", whether or not for therapeutic purposes.

Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a stimulant; people do use it to get high, sometimes even people who are prescribed it for a real medical problem.

The 'high' is a side effect of many medical therapies that we'd like to get rid of, if possible, to improve our ability to help people without the scourges of addiction and abuse. The same is true of marijuana, for some uses; for this particular person's use, however, the goal is to get high.

What it really does is conflate the effects of marijuana with that of heroin and other substances targeted by federal drug laws. In reality they each have distinct pharmacological effects.

Yes, of course. Not that I am opposed to getting high...

Precisely. At least the author acknowledged that he was a shitty person around his kids most of the time and he took steps to correct that. His bourbon and coke didn't help him relax; many a man would have upped the alcohol intake with predictable results. He found a legal(ish) alternative with fewer drawbacks than booze. From personal experience, he'd have found similar effects from regular, strenuous exercise, though not as quickly and not as powerfully. People love a short cut.

A little weed in moderation clearly helps him bond with his very young children. If I were him, I'd be concerned about coming to rely on it and about how my toddlers would perceive me as they got slightly older. Kids are very perceptive and they will notice - and worry - when daddy is unusually attentive, imaginative and happy (and glassy eyed.)

Provided his wife remains sober to drive the kids to the ER if they need it, and assuming daddy's stoned playtime with the kids doesn't interfere with his other responsibilities at home I don't see all that much wrong here at the moment. What he's written here is all positive, but then all drug stories start that way.